Cleaning Up the Business of Septage Management

Not long ago in the Philippines, only 13% of the population were connected to the sewerage systems. The rest of the population used septic tanks and pit latrines, with a few resorting to open defecation. The septic tanks were poorly designed and constructed and remained in sorry conditions. Informal settlers dumped their wastes along waterways because good sanitation facilities did not exist.

In Malaysia, the integration of the States of Sarawak and Sabah in the eastern part of the country from 1960 to 2010 saw a significant increase in population. The growth spurt of urban centers presented new constraints to the water supply and sanitation services. The government had a hard time to develop large-scale sewage treatment sytstems due to lack of funds. Instead, several small-scale sewage treament systems were established. These include sewage treatment plants, individual septic tanks, and communal septic tanks constructed with new housing developments.